in recent years traverse apparatus, as conveyinq devices capable of conveying at high speed light article to heavy articles and air driven, are used widely. In particular, the trend is for building block construction for those having higher speeds and long strokes.
Referring to the figures, an explanation is given below regarding prior art traverse apparatus.
As shown in FIGS. 11 through 13, the piston 1 moves to-and-fro in the direction shown by arrow A or by arrow B. The straight rail guide 3 is affixed by bolt 4 to a main body 2 having an orifice for driving piston 1. The steel belt 8 is fixed at both ends to end plate 9 and side plate 10. Packings 11, 12 to prevent air leakage and packings 13, 14 to prevent air leakage are respectively affixed to table 6 and connector 15. The pin 16, left in empty space, is there for controlling the volume of air in the ends when piston 1 moves to an end. In the FIGS., 18 and 19 are in and out ports for air, while 20 and 21 are air chambers.
The operation of a traverse apparatus configured as above will be described below.
First, when air is introduced to port 19, air will enter air chamber 20, the piston 1 will move in the direction shown by arrow A, and the table 6 affixed to piston 1 via coupler 15 is moved in the direction indicated by arrow A. In the same manner, if air is introduced to port 18, air will enter air chamber 21, piston 1 will move in the direction shown by arrow B and table 6 will move in the direction shown by arrow B.
Yet in the above prior art configuration, the following problems existed. To wit:
(1) The main body 2 contains apertures to drive piston 1 and also has rail guide 3, so that when the weight of the object being transported in the direction shown by arrow C in FIG. 13 came into play, the main body 2 will bend, the aperture for driving piston 1 will become warped and air leak will take place via the steel belt 8. PA1 (2) When the aperture for driving piston 1 becomes worn and must be replaced, replacement must be made for each traverse apparatus, so that it becomes a replacement operation requiring the removal of the head (not shown) affixed to table 6. PA1 (3) The procedure of stopping the table at the end portion of piston 1, intended to reduce the volume of air chamber 20 and increasing the pressure in air chamber 20 to use as back pressure, because the volume of air chamber 20 is reduced the pressure rise of the back pressure is slight, is unable to absorb the shock and it is not possible to move heavy objects or to increase the speed of movement. PA1 (4) The main body 2 has but one piston 1, only one table 6 can be attached, and a plurality of tables cannot be attached.
An object of the subject invention is to solve the above noted prior art problems and present a traverse apparatus which, simplifies the replacement procedure with replacing a worn cylinder, is capable of high speed transport of objects to be moved, and for which head attachment bases can be added easily.